Marsala - Pantone Colour of the Year

Recently Pantone announced the forecast colour of the year and I have to admit I am really digging it. 

Marsala is a rich red, almost wine colour which has a universal appeal - who doesn't like wine ?

Poor photo but you get the idea. You can check it on the Pantone site yourself. I like their descriptives, "elegant, full-bodied, sophisticated..." Very nicely done and I look forward to seeing it in designs soon. 

http://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21163

Some Stairs

There is some construction going on across the street at the Alexis Nihon mall. I took the opportunity to take some pics of the stairs that are being put in replacing the old stairs on the second floor. It's interesting to see what my teacher has been talking about firsthand.

 This shows how the stringers are made with the pan or bed where the tread is going to be tiled. You can see how it is attached at the top to the existing structure of the upper platform. I will post the finished stairs next week. 

Construction Documents 101

One of my on-going classes in my Interior  Design program is Construction Documents which is a great class full of interesting information. 

Recently as part of my research for my main Interior Design project I was privileged to visit one of Montreal's most fantastic architectural examples from the earlier part of the 20th century. The landlord allowed me access to a space that has been used for the better part of a century for light manufacturing and is now vacant and being redone completely from floor to ceiling to get it ready for new tenants. 

This was great chance to see what my Con-Docs instructor has talked about in person. 

I took some photos to give myself some visual documentation and thought I should probably start posting things here again, for easy future reference. 

Here is the section of the existing demising wall being framed on this side for new tenants. Metal studs 16" O.C.

Treatment at column. 

Personal Space Keeper

So part of my studies is a course called 3D studies which looks at how people people react in the space that surrounds them. This here is my project which is meant to keep others out of personal space. 

I think it is quite elegant yet effective. 

Table Maquette

For my furniture design class I designed then built this small scale model of a table. I am really pleased with how it turned out. There were a few tricky points that took some working out, like when I was bending the sides up and one broke right off! It all worked out in the end though and I'm glad I kept it simple because the frustrations I had were relatively small compared to some other people's in my class. 

I also discovered that I actually love working in the shop at school on this project. It's really cool to have an idea that you use your own hands to build, according to the CAD drawings I did to go with this. Below is the working stage. 

Symbiotic Green Wall

From Yanko Design

Focus on Sustainability: B.C.I.T.

The British Columbia Institute of Technology has taken many initiatives to become a more sustainable place of higher education. They have made use of technology to enhance their campuses to provide a smaller footprint on many levels.

From the "smart technology" that makes the downtown campus one of the most energy efficient buildings in downtown Vancouver to the green roof at the Burnaby campus there have been many examples of sustainability in action.

From the site describing the downtown campus:

"High-tech walls of aluminum, high-performance glass, and glass shading fins let light penetrate the building to create bright interior spaces. In each room, wall “light shelves” can adjust the natural light, reducing electrical lighting loads and costs.

The building’s “envelope” balances solar heat gain and natural daylighting. The glazing is high- performance , low-E, and clear to maximize daylight in winter. Cooling requirements are reduced using photocell-dimmed lighting, which reduces the light level and heat gain according to the daylight available.

The space is heated, cooled, and ventilated by a variable-air-volume system with variable speed drives and 100% outdoor air free cooling. Individual zone-control, variable-air-volume boxes link to each room’s lighting occupancy sensors through the computerized building management system."

There seems to be some serious domotics at work in the building which is interesting to see on such a large scale project. According to the site, one of the goals of the college is to become a "net energy producer" and it seems to be well on its way to achieving this milestone.



The building was completed in 1997 and designed by Architectura.ca (which now seems to be part of Stantec.) Much information about the architecture can be found here on a University of Waterloo case study about the building. (Image Credit Terri Meyer Boake B.E.S. B.Arch. M.Arch.)



Other key phrases:
Passive solar gain, renewable energy technologies, on-site co-generation of heat and power, distributed and networked systems, energy cascading and waste heat exchange, matching supply quality to need and other energy conservation measures, regular measurement, reduction of consumption, waste and emissions.

Wintergarden at a Private House

Serving as a unique and beautiful
multi-use space, the wintergarden
links the main house to the indoor
pool, bowling alley and garage, and
features a toroidal roof and undulating
façade.

PROJECT DETAILSProject Title: Wintergarden on Private House, Gloucestershire

Scope of Works: 46m x 22m (max) toroidal glazed roof and façade to
wintergarden including four sets of doors, integral canopy
extension to kitchen area, integrated electronic façade
blinds and automatic roof vents

Cladding Details:
Roof Glazing - 498m² triple glazed units comprising:
10mm clear heat soak treated tempered float glass outer
pane, 16mm air filled outer cavity, 8mm clear heat soak
tested tempered float glass middle pane, 16mm krypton
gas filled inner cavity, 8mm clear heat strengthened float
glass + 1.52mm clear pvb interlayer + 8mm clear heat
strengthened float glass inner laminated pane.

Façade Glazing – 190m² triple glazed units comprising:
10mm clear heat soak tested tempered float glass outer
pane, 32mm air filled outer cavity including silver DLS
Ecklite louver electric blind, 6mm clear heat soak tested
tempered float glass middle pane, 10mm krypton gas
filled inner cavity, 8mm clear float glass inner pane.
Frit pattern to selected panels & areas.
Insulated aluminium panels and flashings.


Steelwork Details:
453 members, total 995m, approx 23tonnes:
All columns 150x100x10 RHS
All roof and transom members 150x100x6 RHS
All hollow sections grade S355 J2H, all other sections and
fittings grade S275.

Contract Value: Confidential upon client’s request

Year of Completion: 2006

Contract Duration: 11 months

Client: Confidential upon client’s request

Architect: Roberts and Gardner



http://www.mero-schmidlin.com/structures/2006wintergarden.htm